


Five ways to a wedding.

by GemAuthor



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:47:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22379695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemAuthor/pseuds/GemAuthor
Summary: Five lit tile snippets with Charity and Vanessa planning their wedding.
Relationships: Charity Dingle/Vanessa Woodfield
Comments: 11
Kudos: 97





	Five ways to a wedding.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea where this even came from, but I just had the urge to write it.

The first way: Let’s do it. 

“This woman is so bad at giving an alibi. It’s not believable at all. She should at least make it sound realistic.”

Charity laughs into Vanessa’s hair. They’re curled up on the sofa, relaxing after a busy day. All the kids are either asleep or relaxing in their rooms. Neither woman wants to head to bed right away and so they’ve opted to watch a real crime drama programme, which is something Vanessa loves. 

“Who do you think you are? An alibi expert?”

Vanessa turns in Charity’s arms and grins up at her. “I broke you out of prison with my expert alibi skills.”

Charity grins. “That you did. I think that was beginners luck though, babe. And you’ve got this innocence about you. There’s no way they would have thought you were lying.”

Vanessa tuts and narrows her eyes at Charity. “I worked hard on that alibi. And I put on one hell of an act. Even did a dreamy stare as if I was remembering what it was we were supposedly doing in the loo.”

Charity laughs and kisses the end of Vanessa’s nose. “Most people would have said we were upstairs helping Noah or having a barny. Not you. You had to go and tell the old bill we were having a quickie in the loo.”

“That’s the most believable option. Everyone who knows us would have backed us up. We are well known for sneaking off for a quick bit of loving.”

Charity laughs again and tightens her grip on Vanessa. “That’s true. You are quite smart. I often forget that.”

Vanessa smiles at Charity like just she’s given her the world. She often does that whenever Charity compliments her in some way. She has gotten better at taking compliments. When they first got together she would shy away from any kind of compliment and it makes Charity’s heart hurt. Only people who aren’t used to compliments would act like that. The thought of Vanessa spending 40 plus years of her life without people constantly telling her how beautiful and special she is, with Vanessa thinking she was none of those things, makes Charity want to weep for her. 

She is amazing and Charity plans on spending the rest of her like making sure she knows that. 

“You were impressed if I remember rightly.”

Charity hums as she kisses Vanessa’s hairline. “I was.”

“So much so you promised to make a Dingle of me,” Vanessa says laughing as she starts to pull away from Charity. She stands and Charity reaches out for her and whines. Vanessa laughs again and bats Charity’s hands away. “Stop being so clingy. I’m going to the loo.”

Charity rolls her eyes. “I’m not being clingy.” Even as she says it, and Vanessa laughs, she knows herself she is lying. 

Ever since they got back together Charity barely wants to leave Vanessa’s side. Not that she did before that, but now she knows what it’s like to be without Vanessa she hates being away from her, even for a second. 

She never thought she would be like that with anyone. Before Vanessa she hated the idea of being like that and would scoff at couples who were always attached at the hip. She loves it though. She loves being that soppy and madly in love person.

Charity watches Vanessa slowly creep up the stairs before turning her attention back to the tv. She herself rolls her eyes at the poor alibi the woman was giving the police and she lets her mind drift back to that day when Vanessa gave her one. 

She was shocked. Not only that Vanessa was brave enough to do that, but that Vanessa was clever enough to come up with a story believable enough. She knows Vanessa is smart. She is one of the smartest people Charity knows. There’s is a difference though with being normal smart and criminal smart. She didn’t think Vanessa was capable of the latter and that she is was another wonderful surprise from the woman she loves.

She thinks back more on that moment outside the station and she thinks back on the moment Vanessa just mentioned, ‘I’ll make a Dingle of you yet.’ Vanessa’s smile as she said that flashes through her mind, how giddy she looked. And it hits her. Why hasn’t she made a Dingle our of her yet? They’ve had a rubbish year with deaths and drama.They nearly lost Noah. They nearly lost each other. And through all that the wedding talk was lost somewhere down the line. When Charity asked Vanessa to marry her she meant it. She wants Vanessa to be her wife. 

So why wait?

“Have I missed anything important?” Vanessa asks as she reaches the bottom of the stairs and walks towards the sofa.

Charity stands up and reaches for Vanessa’s hands. “Let’s get married.”

Vanessa’s smile drops and is replaced by a look of pure confusion. “We are. Hence the ring on my finger.”

“No I mean let’s get married now. Well, not right this minute. Let’s set a date and do it.”

“Where has this come from? How long was I on the loo for?”

“We’ve had a tough year yet we are still here. Stronger than ever. I love you Vanessa, and it’s all I’ve wanted since you said yes to being my wife. That’s all. I want us to be Mrs Dingle and Mrs Dingle. I want to be able to boast that I have the most beautiful wife, and the most beautiful family. I want the world, and you, to know just how much I love you. 

Vanessa looks at Charity with a blank expression for so long that Charity wonders if she has somehow done something wrong in suggesting this. Will she want to get married now or is she happy as they are

“I mean if you don’t want—“

Vanessa throws her arms around Charity’s neck and brings her down for a kiss that leaves Charity weak in the knees. 

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes, let’s do it. Let’s get married. Let’s set a date.”

The second way: The Date.

“So, when are we thinking about telling everyone so they can all start helping out?” Charity asks Vanessa the following evening. She passes Vanessa her pint and waits for the smaller blonde to take a sip before she answers. 

“We need to set a date first,” Vanessa says, her eyes full of excitement. 

Charity grins. “We do.”

After deciding just the night before that they were finally going to go ahead and start planning both women had been fit to burst with excitement. They’d gone to bed and instead of ripping each other’s clothes off, as they normally would, they’d spent hours talking over everything from flowers to outfits and the song they’ll dance to for their first dance. They’d eventually drifted off to sleep on each other’s arms, dreaming of their big day.

“Well, it’s the 6th of January today. How quickly do we want to do this? March time? April?”

Charity grabs Vanessa’s phone off the bar and starts tapping away at it with a big grin on her face. 

“What are you up to?”

Charity smirks and places the phone onto the bar. Vanessa looks down and let’s out a disbelieving laugh when she sees the screen.

“Random date generator? Charity, we are not letting a website decide our wedding date. How about our anniversary? Feb twenty-second? That’s only around six weeks away.”

“No, babe.”

“Why? It’s sweet?”

“It is cheesy and I want two anniversaries. More presents.”

Vanessa rolls her eyes and refrains from telling Charity that once people get married they tend to not celebrate their “becoming official” anniversary as much. 

“Besides this website choosing it could be fun. A good story to tell people.”

Vanessa frowns. “How is that a good story? We were too lazy to decide a date, nor could we agree on one, so we used a website.....”

Charity tuts and presses the ‘Go’ button on the website. Vanessa sighs and watches for what feels like an eternity before the website stops on a date. 

‘10th of March, 2059’

“Oh....I thought it would do dates this year.”

Vanessa snorts out a laugh and presses the screen again herself. They do this for over 15 minutes. Each time the date is years and years away from when they want it to be. There’s a few dates Vanessa is sure they won’t be alive to see.

“This is pointless,” Vanessa moans as yet another date in the very distant future comes up on the screen. 

Charity rubs her hands together and her eyes gleam with humour as she leans right across the bar. Her nose brushes Vanessa’s, sending a shiver through the other woman’s body. 

“One more try, with a kiss for good luck.”

Vanessa smiles as Charity’s lips press gently against hers. Even in a relatively full pull Charity isn’t afraid to kiss her like her life depends on it. 

They break away slowly, Charity placing a soft kiss against Vanessa’s nose before looking back down at the phone. She taps the ‘Go’ again and they both lean in close. Vanessa giggles as the excitement builds. Again it feel like they wait for an eternity before it gives them a date.

‘20th of January, 2020.’

Charity let’s out a loud cheer and claps, getting the attention of a few of the regulars.

“There we go, babe.”

“Charity, that’s two weeks away!” Vanessa whispers, not wanting to be overheard by any of the people still looking their way. 

“We can do it, Ness. We’ve got money. People are always cancelling their weddings last minute aren’t they. We will find somewhere to fit us in.”

“Or we could steal someone else’s....” Vanessa deadpans and Charity frowns.

“Steal someone.....” She bursts out laughing when she realises Vanessa is referencing their engagement. “Hilarious. I’m being serious.”

“You really want to get married in two weeks?”

Vanessa honestly can’t picture them successfully planning a wedding in two weeks. There is so much they have to do and so many people they have to tell. And what if people couldn’t make it at this short a notice? She is starting to panic about it Charity leans closer until they’re nose to nose again. “I’d marry you now if I could. We can do this, Ness.”

Vanessa looks into the beautiful green eyes of the woman she loves and finds herself nodding. If Charity says they can do this and she wants to do this then who is she to say no. 

Step Three: The Venue.

Tracy has the smaller kids, Noah is relaxing in his room and Sarah is round a friends house, so Charity and Vanessa are sat on the sofa looking at possible wedding venues. 

“Why aren’t more people having it off with someone else and calling off their weddings?” Charity groans and they get yet another rejection email from a potential venue.

“I love you, Charity, but sometimes I can’t believe what comes out of your mouth.”

Charity shrugs as she carries on looking through wedding venues on Google. 

“What about this place?” Charity points at a picture of an old building that looks like it’s seen better days.

“It looks like it’s about to fall in on itself.”

Charity huffs. “We are going about this the wrong way.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, we haven’t even decided what kind of wedding venue we would like. We can’t get married in a church so what are we looking for exactly? A hotel where we can get married and have the reception at the same place? A cute little venue and then a knees up back at the pub?”

Vanessa leans in closer to Charity and rests her head against her shoulder as she looks at the screen. As a child and growing up into a woman she dreamt of this day many times. She was always focused on the big venues, the lavish dress, the amazing food and the big party afterwards. She never thought about the most important aspect of it all. The person she would be marrying. Now, none of that matters. 

Without looking at Charity she says, “I don’t have a specific place in mind. I’d marry you in the street if I could. I just want to be your wife. I’ll be happy no matter where that happens.”

Charity places her finger under Vanessa’s chin and urges her to look up at her. The love shinning in Charity’s eyes makes Vanessa’s heart skip a beat. How on Earth she was lucky enough to find someone who looked at her like Charity does, who loves her like Charity does, amazes her every day. 

“Same here, babe.”

“Don’t you want a big, lavish wedding?” Vanessa asks. She knows about how fancy most of Charity’s last weddings were. 

“Been there, done that, got the divorce papers. All I want too is to be your wife. I love you, Vanessa. Big wedding, small wedding, that’s not going to change that.”

Vanessa leans up and places a soft kiss against Charity’s lips. 

“How about Hotten Registry Office? And then a little do back at the pub after?”

Charity grins and wraps one arm around Vanessa’s shoulders as she pulls her in close. “Sounds perfect to me, babe.”

Step Four: The guests.

The next morning Vanessa is hoping about in excitement. The registry office confirmed they could fit them in at 12. They’d already pre-booked the cabs to take them there. Now all they had to to was spread the word. 

“Are we going to get invites or just tell people?” Vanessa asks Charity as they walk through the village with a take out coffee from Brenda’s cafe in their hands. 

“About that.”

“About what?”

“How about we keep it a surprise?”

“A surprise? Why would we do that?”

Charity smiles. “It will be a nice surprise for the kids. We will have to tell Tracy, she’d kill us otherwise. I think it would be nice if it was just us and Tracy who knew.”

“What about Rhona? Can I tell her?”

“She’s has a tough year, babe. I’m sure she will enjoy the surprise too.”

Vanessa slows down as she thinks about Charity’s idea.

“How would that work though? We’d have to make sure everyone is available on that day without them being suspicious?”

“Well, who’s everyone?”

Vanessa drums her fingers against her coffee cup as they come to a stop outside the pub. “My lot, your lot, Debbie and Zac. They may want to come down for it. Ryan. Irene. The list is endless, Charity.”

Charity smiles and shrugs. “It was just an idea. We don’t have to do it that way. I just thought it would be fun. We’re not having a big wedding. The day is about us. So why not keep it a secret and surprise everyone on the day. If they want to be there then they can come. If not it’s not a great loss really. And I’ll call Debbie and let her know and see what she says.”

Vanessa narrows her eyes. “I will be panicking that no one will turn up.”

Charity shrugs again before leaning forward and kissing Vanessa. “Like I said, babe, just an idea. I’ll see you later.”

Vanessa watches Charity go into work, her mind swirling with the idea Charity has just put into her head. She spends the rest of the day that way until lunch when she finally gets a chance to go over to the pub and see Charity. 

She smile Charity always gives her when she walks into the pub will never get old. Anyone looking on at the enthusiastic welcome she receives, a big hug and a inappropriate kiss, would think it was weeks since they’d last seen each other instead of a few short hours. 

“I’ve thought about what you said earlier,” Vanessa says as she climbs onto a bar stool. 

“About what?”

Vanessa rolls her eyes and laughs. Charity’s short term memory can often be worryingly bad. “Keeping the you-know-what a surprise.”

Charity leans on the bar in front of Vanessa. “And?”

“Let’s do it. Like you said it’s about us, and the kids of course. If people can’t make it to the registry office then they can’t come.” Vanessa reaches across the bar and takes Charity’s hands in hers. “ As long as you’re there with me.....That’s all I want. That’s all that matters.”

Charity gives Vanessa a watery smile. “I really, love you Vanessa Woodfield.”

Vanessa lifts Charity’s hands to her lips and gently kisses the finger where a wedding ring will soon be sat. “I love you, too.” 

Step Five: The Dresses

“Where are we going?” Tracy whines as Vanessa and Charity drag her through Leeds city centre. 

They still haven’t told Tracy about their plans to get married in just a weeks time. Vanessa knows her sister has a tendency to let her mouth run away with her. She knows telling her before the day is a risk. She can’t imagine picking out her wedding dress with her little sister not by her side.

“God, Tracy, stop moaning. You will see in a minute, alright?”

Vanessa smiles at their interaction. She will forever be grateful that as much as they wind each other up they really do like and care for each other. 

They walk in silence for another few minutes when Charity grabs Vanessa’s hand. She nods ahead and Vanessa’s heart skips a beat when she sees the dress shop they’re booked into right ahead of them. 

They both stop causing Tracy to crash into the back of them. She lets out a grunt and is about to start moaning again when the turn to face with her big, happy, matching smiles on their faces.

Tracy narrows her eyes at them. “Why are you smiling like that? What’s happening?”

Charity kisses Vanessa’s cheek. “She’s your sister, babe. You can do the honours.”

Vanessa smiles and clasps her hands together, the excitement shooting through her veins. Ever since they set the date she has been desperate to tell someone. Now she finally can. 

“We have brought you here today to help us. See, we need some dresses.”

“What for?”

“Well, we are getting married....”

Tracy frowns. “I know you’ve been engaged for nearly year. I don’t have to get you a present do I? Can you have an engagement anniversary? I’m not sure if they do presents for—“

“Trace, we are getting married next week. A week today,” Charity says interrupting Tracy.

Tracy stares at them both in complete shock for what feels like forever before she lets out a scream that makes Vanessa and Charity both wince. She runs at them and hugs them, bringing them into a group hug. 

“This is the best news ever!”

Vanessa smiles at her sister. “You ready to help us pick out our dresses?” 

“Oh, you bet I am.”

Two hours and seven dresses for Charity later and Vanessa was nearly at the end of her teether. She had found her dress right away. She tried it on and instantly new it was the dress for her. Because of the secrecy and the speed of the wedding they had decided to see each other in their dresses before the big day. 

Going on Charity’s reaction she also thought the dress was the right one for Vanessa. She cried. She kissed her. She cried some more. She then began her own mission of trying to find herself a dress and Vanessa thought she looked breathtaking in all of them. Charity however disagreed and was starting to get agitated because none of them were good enough.

Tracy wasn’t being much help. She’d started on the complimentary champagne when Charity was trying on dress number two and was well on her way to being unable to see anything but double shapes and blurred lines. 

“Ness, can you ask for dress number four back from the fitter please? This one isn’t the right one and that’s the nicest out of a bad bunch. I’ll just settle for that one,” Charity said, peaking her head out of the changing room door. 

Vanessa sighs and walks to the changing room door as Charity closes it again.

“You won’t settle for anything. You need to love your dress, Charity,” she says through the door.

“I liked the fourth one.”

“That’s not love, that’s like. What’s wrong with this one?”

Charity sighs. “I just.....I don’t know.”

“Can I see?”

The door opens and Vanessa steps into the changing room, closing the door behind her. She is about to give Charity another talking to about not just getting a dress because she simply likes it when she turns and sees her soon to be bride for the first time. 

Vanessa doesn’t think she has ever seen anyone look as beautiful as Charity does right in this moment. The dress is perfect. It’s just Charity. It’s gorgeous. 

“Wow....Charity, you look...”

Charity gives Vanessa a shy smile. “I look?”

“Breathtaking.”

Charity’s smile widens. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” Vanessa breathes out. She grasps Charity’s hips and pulls the other woman’s body into hers. “So beautiful.”

Charity reaches around Vanessa’s back with her hands. She lets them slide down Vanessa’s back before stopping when she reaches Vanessa’s backside. She gives it a squeeze and she gives Vanessa a cheeky smile. 

“You like it then?”

“I do. I love it. Do you?”

“On seeing your reaction, yes!”

Vanessa smiles and lets her eyes run down Charity’s body. “It really is perfect.”

“Fancy having a test run? Seeing how easily you can have your way with me in this dress?”

Vanessa laughs and shakes her head.

“Best not. We have been banned from enough shops because of our changing room activities. We don’t want to get banned from here before we manage to buy our perfect dresses.”

Charity leans down and kisses Vanessa softly. “You’re right....again.”

Vanessa kisses her again. “As always.”

Charity rolls her eyes before resting her forehead against Vanessa’s. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life listening to you brag about being right.....and getting us banned from as many clothes shops as possible.”

Vanessa throws her head back and laughs. “I bloody love you.”

“I bloody love you too, soon to be Mrs Dingle.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :)


End file.
